August 12, 2011

“I would not have allowed you out of the car if the snake had been black.”

Mohammed

Spencer and I went off to the kitchen job as Stephanie trundled down to the elementary school for more artistic pursuits. We made good progress in the morning with the two of us barely keeping up with Moses and Freddy who were slapping cement on the wall at a furious pace.

At 10:00 I met Edward and Mohammed for a trip to the water intake. On the way the keen eyed Mohammed spied a snake in a small tree about 5 feet off the ground. We pulled over and I popped out for a video. Despite the fact that the snake was a good two and a half feet long, it did not show up well when we reviewed the tape. Oh well.

The intake that had been completely cemented looked really terrific. We made our deliveries and picked up some wire mesh to take back. I returned to the kitchen. At lunch Mohammed made the statement above and we reviewed some snake protocols.

After lunch Spencer and I went down to the primary school to see the posters that Stephanie had made. There were three, representing breakfast, lunch and dinner with pictures of foods you might find at each meal with their names (in Swahili) written below each illustration.

Mrs. Mgeni asked if we would like to see a class which of course we did. She held up the posters while the children read the names of the foods in unison. It was a stirring performance and proof that Stephanie’s talents had been put to good use. At Mrs. Mgeni’s request Spencer stayed at the primary school to help teach and I returned to the job site.

We mixed 10 buckets of sand to one of cement, a ratio that I had been trying to figure out for a week. Freddy and Moses set to work and I keep them supplied. We ended with the walls done at exactly 4:30 with the last batch of cement mix completely depleted. Good job Moses!